Our political environment since 1985 is akin to a teleserye. Local broadcast networks copied the telenovela from our Mexican cousins. Marimar was a big hit in the late 80s up to the early 90s when it ran on a local network. Thus began the concept of the teleserye.
The opposition has very slim chances for a comeback. About the only way it can is if the present political pecking order doesn’t stop with their antics like what was posted on social media showing the Senators and the President singing on stage on the occasion of Senator Sonny Angara’s 50th birthday bash at the Manila Polo Club.
This is the difference when you have a probinsyano as President as opposed to one who was born and bred in Manila and was educated abroad.
We have the best and the brightest in the Cabinet but the question is can they deliver?
The economic team is composed of mostly academics. It remains to be seen if they can surpass the performance of former Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez. Duterte’s economic team was largely successful because economic policy had an anchor in tax reform. Inflation was controlled by way of the RCEF which did away with the NFA. There’s nothing better than having a Finance Secretary who has experience running a business compared to one who has been in government and academe for his whole career. But let’s give them a chance to prove themselves.
The two sectors which are in a crisis are agriculture and education. The President has taken it upon himself to handle agriculture personally. So far, it’s been motherhood statements. The agrarian reform policy is flawed because farmers have been struggling due to the lack of economies of scale. Giving away land to agriculture graduates isn’t the solution. What may be a better solution is for government to go into joint-venture agreements with conglomerates by providing the land for cultivation.
This enables the government to focus more on infrastructure development which is also needed to bring down the cost of transporting agricultural products from farms to markets. It doesn’t tie-up scarce financial resources in what would take a long time to develop if the strategy put forth by the Agriculture Secretary is followed.
On education, there isn’t much hope. Not with the organizational structure and personnel made public by the Office of the Vice-President. The decision to begin face-to-face classes again in the midst of another Covid wave is stupid. Aren’t our officials aware how crowded classrooms are? This is true even if elementary classes are divided into morning and afternoon sessions. There is the caveat that blended learning will be implemented in select public schools while private educational institutions have been given the discretion to decide for themselves what route they will go.
The largest department in the national government bureaucracy is the Department of Education. Reforming it is going to be just as hard as the national government. The Education Secretary needs to get experts to help her. She won’t be able to do much with the political appointees she has surrounded herself with. The two buzz words are Education 4.0 for Industry 4.0. But the only time this can be implemented is after cleaning the ranks of unqualified and non-performing officials and teachers. This is going to be a very tall order.
In 2016, Duterte ran for President on the single message that there is no economic progress if there is no peace and order. The President didn’t mention Mindanao in his SONA. What’s the next step for Mindanao? There is still the MNLF who has been banking on a shift to federal parliamentary for self-governance in Western Mindanao. Central Mindanao Muslim-Filipinos have BARMM.
Mindanao can become our food basket. It is also rich in mineral resources such as metals, oil and gas. Is there a development strategy for Mindanao? How can transport cost be lowered from Mindanao to other parts of the country? The better question is, how can the transport industry be modernized?
The Marcos administration can’t do much for the remainder of the year because of budgetary constraints. They’re operating on the last budget submitted and passed for the Duterte administration. The only time that the new administration would have any leeway is after their own budget for 2023 is passed.
However, the LGUs can continue to provide services to their constituents because they have a constant revenue stream from their own budgets. LGUs with developed local economies are flush with cash. Those who rely on their internal revenue allotments from the national government are those which have the least developed local economies.
It’s about time LGUs became more involved in development, depending on their location. It can be in agriculture, infrastructure, energy or any other activity which contributes to regional or national development. The problem we have is most LGU heads have no experience in the private sector and lack the educational background to become outside-of-the-box thinkers. They are also hardly tech-literate which is why digitization isn’t a priority or they’re part of the cabal of politicos taking advantage of the institutional weakness of the bureacracy for their personal gain.
Both a good and a bad example at the same time is Isko Moreno. Isko is very talented when it comes to selling himself. He knows how to use social media to his advantage and get his message across not only to his constituents but also to the national audience. He could’ve done more if he termed out as Manila Mayor for nine years since it was a foregone conclusion that he could win reelection each and every time he ran for the total of three terms provided for LGU heads.
Isko made it appear that he got things done but what he actually achieved was more in the beautification and cosmetics aspect in the City of Manila than what actually needed to get done. Digitization of the bureaucracy, generating economic growth for employment and improving the quality of life for residents.
Isko did much for Manila’s residents during the pandemic but all of his actions were geared towards the fulfillment of his ambition to run for President. His obsession with the Presidency was fueled not only himself but also those who were members of his inner circle from his days as a councilor. If only he didn’t let his ambition get the best of him, he could’ve accomplished what others before him have failed to do – restore Manila to be worthy as the nation’s capital city.
LGU heads have the option of passing the blame to the national government even if they should be responsible for their localities. This is why it’s about time that a shift to a federal parliamentary system is brought forth by way of charter change or constituent assembly. The LGU heads should be put to work for the benefit of their constituents.
Marcos didn’t mention charter change in his SONA. Three past Presidents have endorsed and called for it. Maybe Marcos is waiting for his second year in office to make the policy statement but it would be wasting valuable time at a point when the economy is in need of new capital investments. Definitely, even with the amendments to the Public Service and Retail Trade Liberalization Acts, foreign investors will not be coming in in droves because there is still plenty to be done for an ideal investment climate to exist which makes it attractive for them to invest long-term in the country.
Certainly, the global economic situation isn’t helping as there is the fear of an impending recession and there is an enormous amount of debt to be paid by countries who cast safety nets out during the height of the lockdowns. The era of low or near-zero interest rates is over.
There is also the war in Europe and now, heightened diplomatic and military tensions in Asia what with the US and China banging heads over Taiwan, playing a game of chicken from the East China Sea to the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean as a result of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the disputed renegade province of China.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was in the country for about sixteen hours the other day to meet with PFRMJ. Marcos didn’t make any commitments to Blinken but we are still bound by the VFA and the EDCA, which were both signed during the Aquino administration.
The pro-US faction in the Marcos administration is pushing Marcos to lean towards the US. Marcos will be attending the UN General Assembly in September where he will deliver a speech. The Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines has come out with statement that China expects the Philippines to adhere to the One China policy.
So far, Marcos has been toeing the line like a high-wire circus performer between the US and China. But the fact is, China has come to the aid of the Philippines more timely and frequently than the US in the past six years. It remains to be seen when Marcos will visit China as the invitation had been extended even before his inauguration.
More than likely Marcos will also adhere to the consensus of other member countries of ASEAN when it comes to the US-China rivalry in the region. The Philippines is a founding member of ASEAN. There is no logical reason for Marcos to be like Aquino who chose to be the US lackey in the region.
The President should set the direction of the his administration with regard to domestic and international policy. The pandemic has caused disruption and there is the opportunity provided for by the disruption to have a positive effect on government by way of structural reforms.
We will need official development assistance or concessional loans to continue to finance infrastructure development projects. The US is busy sending cash and arms to Ukraine. Our best bets for ODA funding are China and Japan. It is actually in our best interest that Marcos’ first foreign trip be in the region and not the US.
At the same time, it falls on every Filipino to hold Marcos accountable for the mandate he has received. We shouldn’t behave like starstruck celebrity fans thinking that Marcos II is like JFK’s Camelot. If Marcos wants redemption he has to deliver on the promises he made during the campaign.
This is incumbent upon each and every Filipino who voted for Marcos and Duterte.
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